Gas cell of rigid airships



Jun. 1 4 927 r K. SILLER GAS CELL 0F RIGID AIRSHIPS Filed June 15, 19262 Sheets-Sheet 1 u 7 192 J M 7 K. SILLER GAS CELL OF RIGID AIRSHIPSFiled Janus. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 7, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KARL SILLER, or FRIEDRIGHSHAIFEN,

ZEPPELIN GESELLSCIIAFT HAFEN, GERMANY.

Application filed June 15, 1926, Serial No. 116,108, and in Germany Myinvention relates to. gas cells of air ships and more especiallyairships of the rigid type and it is an improvement of my inventiondisclosed in the U. S. Patent 6 1,548,336 of August 4, 1925.

In this patent I have described combination gas cells of approximatelycylindrical shape which have two difierent gas spaces for differentkinds of gas. Both such spaces 1 have approximately cylindrical wallsjoining to common end walls so that there is an approximatelycylindrical inner cell combined with a surrounding approximatelycylindrical jacket space. v

The object of the present invention is to provide an improvement of suchgas cell arrangement which consists in means for allowing the innerupper wall to cover the outer upper wall on its inner side in case ofloss of pressure in the circumferential outer space.

Thus in case of leakage in the upper portion of the outer jacket spacethe inner cell will move upwardly and its wall will cover the leak inthe outer wall. To attain this eiiect the inner cylindrical wallapproximately along its equator may be connected to the correspondingline of the outer wall by means of textile strips, netting or the like.Furthermore the inner wall itself may be made wider than would benecessary under other circumstances so that despite the con 'necti on ofend walls of both spaces the inner wall is apt to move upward withoutexert ing excess stresses on the walls.

If desired the end .walls may also be doubled, partly or all over.Furthermore under certain conditions it may be of advan tage to fastenthe outer cell wall to the ridge of the airship hull and possibly toconnect it also to the inner wall at this point of its cross section.

Having given a general description of my invention I now want to pointit out more in detail referring to the drawings which'represent examplesembodying my invention.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross sectional view taken through the middleportion of a rigid airship showing a compartment of the hull in whichthe gas cell is also represented in cross section. The adjacentcompartment to the left is empty whereas in the compartment to the rightthe gas cell therein is shown uncut.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view GERMANY, nssronon 'roLUFTSOHIFIBA MIT BESCHBANKTER HAFTUNG, or FBIEIDBIGES- eAs CELL or RIGIDAIRSHIPS.

Tune 19, 1925.

1. In both figures it gas contained 1n the than that'in thesurcorresponding to Fig. s assumed that the inner space is lighterrounding jacket.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view through a gas cell resemblingthat shown in Fig. 2, but representing a somewhat different example. Inthis figure the representation of the airship hull is omitted.

Whereas in Fig. 3 the distribution of the different gases corresponds tothat of Figs. 1 and 2, in Fig. 4, which is a cross section of the samegas cell as shown in Fig. 3, the

inner space is assumed to be inflated with the heavier gas and the outerjacket with the lighter gas.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the same gas cell representing itsshape under the com d-ition of a rupture in the outer jacket space whichis partly deflated thereby.

' In Figs. 1 and 2 the longitudinal girders of the hull are designatedby the letter a.

They connect with each other main ring members b'b' and intermediatering members b. Two main ring members together with the .connectinglongitudinals form a compartment into which a gas cell is inserted. Thewiring and net work against which the walls of the gas cell bear'are notshown in the drawings; also the outer cover of the ship is omitted.

The combination gas cells designed according to my invention comprise aninner space W and .an outer walls (1 of the inner space W are connectedto the end walls e of the outer space. e circumferential wall a of theinner space is connected to the corresponding wall of the outer space bymeans of a substantially horizontal net work-like seam 2, which seam maycomprise tension members 9 connecting two strips h and fastened to thewalls, respectively. Since the outer wall is not fastened to the hull,the entire cell construction will be flex'ble and is adapted to yieldaccording to the prevailing gas pressure. The outer wall 7 is adapted tobe turned in alon seam 2 as soon as the conditions of infi ation in thetwo different spaces and the pressure of the gas therein will afford, asmay be seen from the diflerent figures. The portion of the combined cellat the seam z from the beginnin may be shaped so that the outer. wall isa ready space S. The end movement in this direction.

If there be a rupture in the wall of the outer gas cell the decrease ofpressure in the outer space will cause the inner cell to move in anupward direction so that a portion of its wall will bear against thehole in the outer wall and thereby make it tight, as shown in Fig. 5,

p representin the rupture.

It may be preferable to in ate the inner space with the lighter one ofthe two gases, which method willsimplify the whole ar rangement in sofar as the inner cell may be assumed to float in the outer one, so thatno special means for connecting it to the hull are to be provided, whichmeans would be necessary in'case the inner cell were inflated with theheavier gas.

There are automatic valves 9 in both s aces. Their operating pressuremay be c osen so that -first the valve of the inner cell opens in whichcell there may be hydrogen for example, whereas the valve of the outercell in this case inflated with helium will open only at a comparativelyhigh pressure so as to conserve the costlyhelium as much as possible. Itmay even be taken into consideration totally to omit automatic valves inthe outer space and to provide only avalve to be operated at will incase of need.

I do not want to limit myself to the examples described or shown in thedrawings as many variations will occur to those skilled in the art..

What I claim is:

1. A combination gas cell for rigid airships comprising inner wallsconfining an inner space; and outer walls; said outer walls togetherwith said inner walls con- 'ng an outer jacket space; said inner Wallsand said outer walls being connected to each other; said inner wallsbeing so large that upon decrease of pressure in said jac et space the.may cover substantially the. u per half 02 said outer walls.

2. K combination gas cell for rigid airships comprising inner wallsconfining an inner space 5 and outer walls; said outer walls togetherwith said inner walls confining an outer jacket space; said inner wallsand said outer walls being connected to'each other; the upper portion ofsaid inner walls being substantially of the same dimensions as the upperportion of said outer walls.

3. In a rigid airship, a hull divided into compartments; a gas cell inone of said compartments; said gas cell being divided by walls into aninner space and an outerv jacket space; the walls confining said innerspace with their forward and rear end portions being connected to thewalls outwardly confining said jacket space; the upper portion of thewalls confining said inner space substantially having the samedimensions as the upper portion of the outer walls confining said jacketspace. 4. In a rigid airship, a hull divided into compartments; a gascell in one of said compartments; said gas cell being divided by wallsinto an inner space and an outer jacket space; the walls confining saidinner space with their forward and rear end portions being connected tothe walls outwardlv confining said jacket space; the circumfcrentialportions of the walls of both spaces being in connection with each otheralong corresponding longitudinal lines of their circumference; the meansfor said latter connection being permeable to gas.

5. In a rigid alrship, a hull divided into compartments; a gas cell inone of said compartments; said gas cell being divided by walls into aninner space and an outer jacket space; the walls confining said innerspace wlth their forward and rear end portions being connected to thewalls outwardly confining said jacket space; the circumferentialportions of the walls of both spaces being in connection with each otheralong corresponding longitudinal lines of their circumference; the meansfor said latter connection being per portion of the walls confining saidinner space substantially having the same dimensions as the u perportion of confining sai jacket space.

KARL SILLER.

permeable to gas; the up the outer walls

